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Your One-Week Plan for Social Media Domination

Posted on Monday, October 17th, 2016 at 5:30 am.

Maybe this is just me, but there was a day last week when I was reviewing all my various to-do lists. Some are for urgent, time-bound tasks. Others are more like wish lists, the things I’d do if I had the time. I realized that my wish list was full of social media tasks that I just keep de-prioritizing.

Not good.

And no more!

My problem was analysis paralysis. I was looking at all the little tasks and letting myself get so overwhelmed that I completely froze and got nothing done. (Am I the only one this happens to? Or have you experienced it, too?)

So, starting today, I’m approaching my social media management like I do everything else: with a plan!

By the way, I used this roundup of 16 social media studies to determine which platform to focus on for which day. My methods are overly simplified, so if you want the nitty-gritty, go read that post!

One quick routine note: Each day, on that day’s channel focus, I go through new followers and follow back. Yes, some people might have to wait a full week for a return follow, but I don’t think anyone really notices or cares, and it’s just so much more efficient than checking every channel every day!

Monday: Instagram

Sure, you can plan out your Instagram shares, but there’s not a solid way to automate the posting (yet). That said, if I’m sure to post every Monday, at least I know that if the rest of the week gets completely away from me and I forget to come back to it, I’ve posted once. (Progress, not perfection… right?) In the meantime, on the first Monday you start up this routine, take two extra steps: Check your profile pic and check your bio. Are both still accurate and relevant? If not, there’s no time better than right now to fix it!

Tuesday: Video (YouTube, SnapChat, etc.)

This is the fastest growing segment of social. So, use your Tuesday to (like me) set up an account on a channel you want to try. If you’re already up and running, spend some time editing your next video or recording something to post for next week. Also, take two minutes to fully fill out your About and update your profile pic.

Wednesday: Twitter

Twitter is arguably my favorite social channel, and I like to spend time actually on Twitter. Unfortunately, that time rarely materializes. Instead, I’ll use Wednesday to schedule out tweets: recent posts, posts from my archives, and posts I’ve loved from around the internet. If I have a full week scheduled, then when I do dip in and out of Twitter to engage, I’m not dividing my attention between that and sharing content. Throughout the week, by the way, my favorite scheduling tool is Buffer. I use the little Chrome extension that allows me to schedule tweets ahead of whatever I’m reading in the moment.

Thursday: LinkedIn

First, a confession: My LinkedIn account is buried under an inch of dust. It’s untouched and outdated. Are you in the same position? My Thursday LinkedIn strategy is to simply tackle each section once a week. For instance, this week I’ll respond to the languishing connection requests. Next week I’ll update my Summary and profile pic. And so on. Once I’m finally up-to-date, then I’ll start sharing relevant blog posts and making new connections.

Friday: Facebook

Scheduling is the name of the Friday Facebook game. To be honest, you can’t really be an effective content marketer on Facebook unless you’re, well, on Facebook. Daily. But, with limited time, I want to spend that tiny chunk of time each day actually engaging. So, use Fridays to schedule out posts for the following week. Include your blogs posts, shares from other pages, updates, and so on. Then, with your daily check-ins, like, comment, share, and engage. For your first Friday routine, be sure to check over your About page and profile pic. Update as needed!

Weekend: Pinterest

According to the studies note above, Saturdays are the best days to pin about travel and Sundays are the best days to pin about food. Since I write about neither, I’m going to use my weekend scheduling out pins (social media guru Carol Bryant recommends Tailwind) and making my own boards more robust. Pinning, with the Chrome extension, is super easy in the moment, but I plan to spend my first Pinterest weekend editing my boards and pinning my freelance writing clips onto my writing board. Next weekend: Pin all the things! (From other pet bloggers, of course!)

There you have it: Your One-Week Plan for Social Media Domination!

Put the social channel for each day on your task list for that day so you don’t forget. A little effort goes a long way as long as it’s purposeful and consistent. We’re in this together! We can do it!

Have you ever felt paralyzed from “social media to-do overwhelm”? How did you combat it? What’s your daily routine for social media management?

Maggie Marton serves as the BlogPaws senior editor. When not hiking with her two pit mixes, Emmett and Cooper, or playing withNewt the Cat, Maggie writes about them (and the pet industry) at ohmydogblog.com and maggiemarton.com.